Ep. 1: Transform
is the first episode of Gosei Sentai Dairanger. Synopsis Ryo, a simple restaurant worker, is brought in as one of five qi manipulators to become the Dairanger under Master Kaku to face the revival of the Gorma Tribe. Plot A boy with thick glasses is singing while playing with a yo-yo within a vacant lot. At the same time, a delivery man named Ryo rides through a local Chinatown district, returning to a restaurant where one of the chefs tells him to take out the trash, despite doing it the previous day; he complains but is silenced by the chef and leaves to do his work, all while being watched by a man with facial hair and sunglasses in Chinese garb. Ryo encounters the boy playing the yo-yo and is briefly entranced until another cyclist hits his trash can, forcing him to pick it up. Ryo's sister Yumi asks to help but he tells her not to; while at the same time a strange golden tentacle slithers through the nearby grass. The tentacle immediately snags Yumi dragging her through the brush into a hole before flying out, it's jaws attacking Ryo forcing him to run from the strange protrusion through the alleyways of the Chinatown until it starts cornering and attacking him. Ryo tries to run but the tentacle slaps him and smashes a wall before he runs through a car lot and another alley where he is able to finally catch his breath. As he tries to relax, the boy with the yo-yo returns, singing before the tentacle tries to capture Ryo by raising him high in the air. Suddenly, a serpentine Chinese dragon flies through the sky breathing fire towards the tentacle before it grabs Ryo by a talon and flies high into the air! The mysterious sunglasses man notices his departure as he vanishes. Ryo soon finds himself reviving in a strange dark control room hearing the sound of falling sand and seeing burning incense and glowing monitors. A door creaks and he tries to get to it, prying it open and going inside where he sees five multi-colored motorcycles suddenly come to life, the red one trying to run him over forcing him to flee once again until he enters a cavernous location and rises back up into the city where he's nearly hit by a car! Above ground, Ryo discovers a giant building as well as multiple males approaching him from opposite directions surrounding him. They capture Ryo as the sunglasses man watches and escort him through the train station back to the bizarre lair where he asks who they are and what's going on. The mysterious sunglasses man, now dressed in a maroon gi and headband, introduces himself as Kaku; stating that if he had arrived later, Ryo would have fallen prey to "Baron String", a creature sent by the Gorma. Kaku explains the Gorma originally appeared 6,000 years prior as fiends who once tried to destroy humanity but have now returned. Ryo asks what's going on here and he has nothing to do with this; but Kaku further explains the Gorma possess Yo Power and the only way that it can be stopped is with Qi power, which Ryo himself has inside him. Ryo claims he doesn't have the power within him, but Kaku performs a hand fist attack blowing Ryo away, stating that as Qi power. He instructs Ryo to focus on his spirit to form the Qi within him to do a maneuver like this. Pulling out a knife, Kaku focuses more Qi and throws it from far away towards the delivery boy, making him seem like he felt something before avoiding it. Another of the males within the room states Ryo isn't that bad with his Qi power before pulling him up and telling him to stay out of his way and introducing himself as Shoji. Another, a suited man named Kazu, tells him to be open minded and give them a chance, while the fourth, a stern male named Daigo, looks at Ryo with contempt. Kaku states as of today, Ryo is a member of the "Dairanger" and that a fifth will soon arrive and then the battle with the Gorma will begin, as well as the truth of Qi Power and what the Dairanger fight for. Kaku states if the Gorma aren't stopped then humanity will be destroyed. That night, a female general known as Commander Gara appears around several floating orbs in the sky. The next day, a Chinese female dressed in a hat and jacket arrives in Japan at the airport; taking her bag, she leaves. At a seaport, two more black-suited men, a "Commander Shadam" and a "Lieutenant Commander Zydos", arrive by car at a building where they meet with Gara. Gara opens a suitcase with strange bombs within it where they watch the arriving Chinese woman. She continues to walk as she passes multiple bicyclists who soon turn around and honk towards her and then start pursuing her in chase. The woman runs up an escalator but is pursued by more bicycles who keep her surrounded preventing movement before they attack her; the girl leaps above them before using a wind Qi ability to knock them over, but she becomes hit by a bike before being knocked into Ryo, wondering who they are. The cyclists transform into white-faced minions with black suits known as Cotporos, continuing to chase all the Dairanger; Ryo thanks the girl from coming all the way from China as the female asks if they're associated with Kaku and they confirmed they're here to welcome her. The five hit down the Cotporos and steal bikes as they try to escape the pursuit before more minions disguised as waiters try to corner them. The five continue chase past a checkpoint and even trip several running Cotporos before being hit by a truck, throwing them off their bikes. The yo-yo boy approaches them, transforming into his true form of Baron String, the Gorma monster Ryo faced prior, throwing out more strings to kill them for the Gorma while stating he loves them from the bottom of his heart. Ryo is tossed into nearby junk as the other Dairanger are tossed about before being raised into the air as the Gorma Minion laughs manically and prepares to finish them with another string with a dagger at the end. Remembering Kaku's words about Qi concentration Ryo catches it before he and the others activate their Aura Changers, changing them into spandex uniforms that short out Baron String's tentacles and allowing them to introduce themselves: Ryo the Ryuuranger, Daigo the Shishiranger, Shoji the Tenmaranger, Kazu the Qilinranger and Rin the Hououranger: the Dairanger. Ryo declares he will defeat Baron String as the team leap forth and use their abilities in combat against the Cotporos, including martial arts based on their mythical beast using their fists and staffs. Ryo soon becomes tossed aside by Baron String, but takes the stance of the Red Dragon Fist which the Gorma Minion recognizes and is ready to fight. Using his Baron Fist, Baron String attacks Ryuuranger tossing him into more boxes before Ryo uses swords to slash at Baron String but becomes knocked down again and then captured by another string. Using his Qi, Ryo regains his weapons and slashes at Baron String and uses his Lightning Blaze Destruction using lighting and flames to knock the Gorma Minion down and forcing his mouth to release it's captured prey, including Ryo's sister Yumi, which Ryo tries to comfort. Baron String declares the battle isn't over yet as it pulls out an Enlargement Bomb, pulling it's top and throwing it down making it grow to a huge size! Telling Rin and Shoji to take the kids aside, Ryo takes the blast from the giant Gorma Minion as it rampages against it's smaller prey as Daigo wonders what to do. Back at the headquarters, Kaku starts meditating as the entire base acts up irregularly and he floats into the air and performs a "Mythical Summoning", forcing forth the giant red dragon which Ryo soon learns and uses his sword to summon the Mythical Qi Beast, Ryuseioh. Using his Dai Buster, Ryo climbs onto the dragon and tells it to fight Baron String to battle. Cast * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : Guest Cast * : **Boy: *Yumi: *Chef: Notes *'Eyecatch' **'Featured Dairanger (Pre-Break):' RyuuRanger **'Featured Dairanger (Post-Break):' RyuuRanger *'Viewership': 9.6% **With a rating of 9.6%, this was the highest rated episode of Dairanger, 2.6% above the series average. *The title of this episode is taken from the first line of the opening theme. DVD Releases *''Gosei Sentai Dairanger'' Volume 1 features episodes 1-10.http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/dairenger.html *The complete Dairanger series was released in North America by Shout! Factory in 2015. See Also References Category:Gosei Sentai Dairanger Category:Sentai episodes Category:Season Premieres Category:Written by Noboru Sugimura